Shooting at a San Bruno college leaves one man wounded

The tranquil campus of San Bruno's Skyline College burst into violence Wednesday after a shooter opened fire on an 20-year-old student at the school, sparking a campuswide lockdown and a search for three suspects. It was the second incident at a Bay Area campus in a week.

Wednesday's shooting happened about 1:30 p.m. when the gunman and his two accomplices fired at the victim after a fight in a parking lot at the school, said Cmdr. Mark Catalano of the San Bruno Police Department. Witnesses reported hearing several shots, then seeing the shooter — smiling as he ran from the campus with the two others.

After the attack, witnesses said, a wounded, bleeding man stumbled into the school's learning center and shouted, "I got shot!"

The shooting comes less than a week after two pipe bombs exploded in the hallway of Hillsdale High School in what police described as "a coldblooded plan of execution," by former student Alex Youshock, 17. He is believed to have been seeking revenge against school staff for perceived wrongs. No one was injured in the Aug. 25 attack in San Mateo, but it left students and faculty, who helped to apprehend the suspect, shaken.

Immediately after the Skyline College shooting, the school went into lockdown as heavily armed police surrounded the campus searching classrooms one by one. The suspects remained at large Wednesday night.

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Catalano said the Skyline College shooting was isolated, and there is no indication that the suspects came to the school to hurt other students or staff. Witnesses said the victim was carrying a backpack and appeared to have been shot in the buttocks or lower back.

Students, meanwhile, described a chaotic and frightening scene, with police pointing their guns at campus buildings during the search for the suspects.

"The cops told us to come down the stairs with our hands up," said Carlo Cervantes, 20, adding that he was worried someone from inside a building was going to start shooting at police.

Student Raydan Alhubaishy, 19, said he saw the shooter running away from the campus holding a silver semi-automatic handgun just moments after the shooting, which happened in parking lot 6, near the Pacific Heights building, according to Catalano.

Police said a group of six to eight young men were arguing or fighting in the parking lot before the firing began.

"The dude holding the gun was smiling," said Alhubaishy.

The man with the gun and two accomplices drove away north on Pacific Heights Boulevard in a fluorescent purple Ford Escort with paper license plates, according to police, who released only a vague description, saying the men appeared to be about 18 years old and were wearing bluejeans. Catalano said it is not clear whether the men are students at the school.

Law enforcement agencies from around San Mateo County helped seal off the campus and participated in a search of the school, said Catalano. Police were on the scene into the evening Wednesday looking for evidence and interviewing witnesses.

School was canceled for the remainder of the day, and officials said the campus will be closed today. The district planned to notify students late Wednesday through its e-mail and text alert systems, said Barbara Christensen, spokeswoman for the San Mateo Community College District.

Students at Oceana High in Pacifica were also evacuated because that school is a short distance from Skyline. At the time of the shooting, Oceana had already finished classes for the day but had about 50 students on campus for after-school activities, Principal Caro Pemberton said.

Will Lam, a student at Skyline College and one of 3,000 people evacuated from the campus, was still unnerved over the incident.

Sept. 2, 2009: Skyline College in San BrunoAug. 24, 2009: Hillsdale High School in San Mateo: A teen with eight pipe bombs strapped to his body is arrested after two explosions. No one was injured.Feb. 14, 2008: Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, Ill. A gunman kills five students are wounds 17 before killing himself. The gunman, Stephen Kazmierczak, was a former graduate student at the university.April 16, 2007: Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. Student Cho Seung-Hui killed 32 students and then himself in the most deadly campus shooting rampage in U.S. history.Oct. 3, 2006: Amish School in Nickel Mines, Pa: Carl Charles Roberts IV entered the West Nickel Mines Amish School and shot 10 female students, then himself. Five of the girls and Roberts died.April 20, 1999: Columbine High School, Littleton, Colo. 14 students, including the two shooters, and one teacher are killed and 23 others wounded.